Dublin - fairy goddess Neve

Another 'rest' day yesterday. Shane was working so the girls and I hung together at home - did some homework, walked up to the village and just veged-out. We wandered up the street for dinner (Japanese - just to be different), stopping at a pub for a drink....

Today we had grand plans to go on the Viking Splash bus...but when we got to the bus stop we discovered the buses were totally sold out for the whole day! So booking a ticket for tomorrow morning we headed off towards the Temple Bar area of Dublin and the wax museum.

Eloise loved the wax museum, although she wanted to know how they lit the figures since they were candles.....I had to explain that they were made of wax but you didn't 'burn' them like a candle!!! We made sure we avoided the 'chamber of horrors' with Neve already feeling very nervous around the wax statues - she eventually calmed down and enjoyed it but it took a while.....

Spongebob squarepants - Eloise's favourite

Peppa pig

Two very suave gentlemen....and a photo-bomb by Neve!

Being in Dublin - I also managed to catch up with a few 'friends' and share a few stories










The wax museum also had some good 'folklore' figures...

They even had one about the mystical, fairy Niamh (which is the Irish way to spell 'Neve')....

Fairy Niamh Chinn Oir (Neve of the golden hair - she even looks like 'our Neve') and Oisin (pronounced "Oh-Sheen") with the horse Embarr.












After visiting the museum, we wandered through Temple Bar and came across the favourite shop of every kid (and every sweet tooth!)

Today there were about a dozen periods of rain - it is bizarre - it's sunny and fine, then 10 minutes later its raining and then 10 minutes later its sunny again...

Hopefully the sun is out for our viking tour tomorrow.

The story of Niamh and Oisin is one of the most popular in Irish folklore.....and Niamh (Neve) is still one of the most popular names in Ireland and means 'bright' or 'radiant'. Is it funny when we are out and about and yell out "Neve' (as we seem to have to do every 5 minutes) and there are at least a few women and girls who turn around to look - who probably have the name Niamh!

Here is a longer version of the story of Niamh and Oisin....

The Legend of Tir Na Nog The Land of Youth Long ago, on an isle of emerald green, surrounded by a sea of azure blue, there lived a young man named Oisin.  Oisin liked to explore the moors with the Fianna, ancient warrior-hunters. One day, when Oisin and the Fianna were out hunting, they saw an extraordinary sight.  It was a beautiful young woman with long red hair, riding on a spirited white mare.  The sun glistened off the maiden's hair, casting a magical golden light.  The mare's movements were so fluid that she appeared to float across the ground.  As her rider brought her to a stop before the group, the horse's hooves struck at the field stones impatiently, sending small sparks into the air. "My name is Niamh," the woman said, in a voice that sounded like the music of a harp.  "My father is the king of Tir Na Nog." Oisin stepped forward from the group of hunters to welcome the rider.  As his eyes met Niamh's, they fell in love. "Come with me to Tir Na Nog," Niamh pleaded to her new found love.  After only a moment's hesitation, Oisin swung up behind Niamh onto the white horse. Together, they crossed the sea to Tir Na Nog. Having grown up on the Emerald Isle, Oisin would never have believed that a more beautiful land existed.   But, as he gazed upon Tir Na Nog, he was stunned by the beauty around him. In this magical land, Niamh and Oisin built a life together.  They spent each day exploring Tir Na Nog with the white mare.  Niamh and Oisin's love grew deeper as Niamh shared the beauty of her enchanted homeland. 300 years passed as though it were but a single day.  No one in Tir Na Nog ever grew old or fell sick.  They lived in endless, youthful moments filled with happiness. In spite of the beauty of the land and the deep love that Niamh and Oisin shared for each other, a small part of Oisin's soul knew loneliness. Such feelings were unheard of in Tir Na Nog.  But in spite of her efforts, Niamh was unable to ease Oisin's loneliness. So, when Oisin came to Niamh and told her of his desire to return to Ireland to see his family and the Fianna again, she could not hold him back. "All right," said Niamh.  "Return to Ireland on the back of the white mare.  But my dear, your foot must not touch the soil of Ireland!"  Immediately Oisin rode the white horse back across the sea to the land of his birth.  But, as soon as the mare's hooves touched Ireland's soil, Oisin realized how much the land had changed.  Oisin's family and friends had long passed away.  Their grand castle was over grown with ivy.  Oisin was so caught up in his quest to find his family and his grief at their loss, that he forgot to care for the beautiful white horse.  In spite of her hunger and fatigue she continued to respond to her rider.  Finally, with a sad heart, Oisin turned the mare back toward the sea to return to Tir Na Nog. Approaching the sea, he came upon a group of men working in a field.  As the mare reached the group, her fatigue caused her to stumble.  Her hoof hit a stone.  Oisin bent down to pick up the rock, planning to take it to Tir Na Nog.  He was sure that it would ease his sadness to carry a piece of Ireland back with him.  But as his hand grasped the stone, Oisin lost his balance and fell to the ground.  Within moments, Oisin aged 300 years.  Without her rider, the mare reared up and rushed into the ocean, returning to Tir Na Nog and her beloved Niamh. When the men in the field witnessed this, they were amazed.  Not only had they seen a young man age before their eyes, they had also seen a tired old plow horse transformed into a beautiful silver-white mare, who  raced into the sea. The men went to Oisin's aid and carried him to St. Patrick.  When Oisin met St. Patrick, he told Patrick of the his family and the Fianna, who had disappeared from Ireland almost 300 years before.  Then he told St. Patrick of Niamh and the magical land of Tir Na Nog. As Oisin ended his story, a great weariness swept over him and he closed his eyes in eternal slumber.  Even to this day, the fishermen and lighthouse keepers still tell of foggy nights when the moon is full, and they see a shimmering white horse dancing in the waves along the shores of Ireland.  Some say that the red-haired maiden who rides the horse still searches for Oisin Perhaps that is why Neve loves the beach so much...she is searching for her 'Oisin"....

Dublin - Bray

Yesterday was a true 'rest day'....hanging around the house, out for brunch, play in the park, back home....that was it. Nothing special except that it was all in a city halfway around the world from where we live!!!

Today was another girls adventure day. Shane has 2 more days of 'work' to do in Dublin (today and tomorrow) so the 3 of us headed out reasonably early (before 10 - we are now acclimatised and are getting up at 730am...kids are still not going to sleep until 830pm - it is just too light to even consider sleeping before then - and even then we have to close all the blinds to try and convince them it is getting dark outside!

The day was bright and sunny so I thought we would jump on the dart and head down the coast ('dart' stands for Dublin Area Rapid Transport I learnt the other day - overhead it when one of those Viking Splash buses drove past me in town)....

The Viking Splash bus....I think we will be donning the helmets on Wednesday....

The 'dart' from Landsdowne Rd station



The train/dart ride down to Bray was very scenic. It took about 45 minutes but ran all the way along the coastline. Since we left after peak-hour we had the carriage mostly to ourselves.

The view from the dart as we travelled down the coast....












Once we arrived at Bray we headed straight to the 'beach' and the walkway that runs along it.

The sun was shining intermittently....it is amazing how much the temperature drops when the sun goes behind a cloud - it was jackets on/jackets off/jackets on depending on what the clouds were doing. I was going to take the girls to the sea-life centre but they decided they would rather just play on the 'sand' and collect 'shells' - I am glad they didn't want to make a sandcastle as this would have been pretty difficult!!

The lifeguards were on duty....watching over the seagulls and the 4 people I saw actually IN the water.


I was amused to see that the red and yellow flags basically were at each end of the beach....obviously not a dangerous current today - and I think the lifeguards knew there wouldn't be many people to have to watch over today.

The lifeguard 'tower'.....it's no Baywatch!!!!























One thing I have noticed in Ireland - and this is just because we have come from America where security is EXTREME (I am glad I don't have to take my shoes off in the airport anymore!)...is how trusting the Irish are. In a pub you order at the bar and they bring your drink to your table - but you don't pay until you leave when they ask you "what was it you had?".....it's very tempting to say "just a glass of lemonade"  - the same at restaurants....but my conscience insists I tell the truth. I can't imagine what you'd say at the end of a big night when you can't remember how many drinks you had!!!

In America you couldn't get into ANYTHING without a security screening (x-rays of bags, metal detectors, the lot). I am sure this has all increased due to September 11 but I wonder when it will end. At one point we just wanted to get into a building to let Eloise use the toilet (by this point she was almost hysterical needing to 'go').....but we still had to do the metal detector, bag screening , etc.....

Not sure I can remember anytime my bags or anything were checked since arriving in Ireland.

Dublin - beach babes

Today was one of the warmest we have had in Dublin - and to celebrate we took the girls down the road to Sandymount 'beach'.

Now, normally (well - every time I have ever seen it) the water is almost a kilometre from the actual edge of the sand...but today the water was probably halfway between where is 'normally' is and the sand edge!

The water was MUCH closer than I have ever seen it before!












Eloise was SO excited to be at the beach for a 'swim' (we couldn't convince her that  she might not even be able to 'see' the water and that it might be too cold).....so once we hit the sand she was stripped off and in her cossies ready to go!

Eloise taking off for a 'swim'.....













We made our way to the edge of the water and the girls went splashing in without so much as a squeal that it was too cold - perhaps they went instantly numb after hitting the water.

Ready to 'hit the water'....should we have brought Eloise's back-float?

As we stood there watching them, we only just noticed in time that the tide was literally racing up the beach....my shoes we about to get filled with water!!!

I have never seen a tide moving so quickly! OK - so it isn't one of those spectacular tide changes like they have up in the northern territory where there are huge volumes of water creating rapids.....but I have never been able to watch the water creeping up the sand like that before.

The water went from this.....

To this (almost up to the edge of the sand)...in less than 5 minutes

This didn't faze out kids who enjoyed 'swimming' in water that was a little bit deeper than it had been a few minutes before. We did get a few looks from the 'locals' who I am not sure have seen many people actually 'swimming' at the beach before.....our kids were the only ones (besides a few dogs) in the water!!!

Eloise was SO happy to have FINALLY been able to have a swim in Ireland!















We eventually got them out of the water before they turned blue and dried them off and back into some warm clothes.
I realised that our kids have never been on a 'holiday' that didn't involve swimming of some sort so they just needed to get in the water to cement the fact that they were on a holiday!!!!

So glad they got the chance - not many people will be able to say they went swimming in the sea while on holiday in Ireland!!!

Dublin - horsing around

The Dublin International Horse Show has been on for the last few days and it's just around the corner from where we are staying. So today we headed off to check it out.

It was kind of like the Royal Easter Show at home....only on a smaller scale and without the cows, chickens and show bags!

The horses do look beautiful and we got to see some of the early show-jumping competitions...

Action shot.....

The main arena.












It was a big day for Neve. She faced her fears and actually had a pony ride today. I am SO proud of her and she actually really loved it. The look on her face and she rode around in little circles was priceless! Eloise was actually scared for Neve before she got on the horse but was then so happy for her big sister. Eloise wasn't quite brave enough to have a turn herself...

My little champion!!!!!!

She even got a ribbon for her 'riding skills'















The show was great fun - we watched a Punch and Judy show and some Irish dancing (although Neve and Eloise were too busy rumbling on the grass to watch) and were going to watch the 'grand parade' in the main arena but it was too crowded. Even the president of Ireland was at the show today!!

Besides the main arena there were a few other judging rings where different horses were being judged for different things (including a mare and foal category) so we got to see some of that as well.

Neve was judged 'best in show'.....
























Another busy day.

Something I have noticed in Ireland - there are SO many redhead kids...it's ridiculous! They must outnumber other hair colours two to one. Neve certainly blends into the crowd. I think she feels quite at home here.....

Dublin - the luck of the Irish

So - adventure day take 2

This time - the weather was on our side...so the girls and I headed out on another adventure day while Shane was at Trinity College working.

We made it to the double-decker tourist bus (again) and this time we managed to get a seat on the 'top deck' which thrilled the kids no end. We got the seat right at the front of the top deck so the view of Dublin as we drove around was fantastic.

Eloise was in charge of the camera, so while we got hundreds of photos - most of them are of the back of Neve's head or up her nose...

Eloise - before she got hold of the camera....

Dublinia - a wax museum type thing looking at the history of Dublin

The LUAS light rail transport system

Hmm....could be St Patrick's church...?

Most of the other photos were similar to this....











We got off the bus at Phoenix Park (a huge park - one of the largest in Europe where they even have herds of deer roaming around) and walked through the park to Dublin Zoo.

Dublin Zoo is a great zoo. I must admit it is much better than Central Park zoo (which is much smaller). It is well laid out and easy to get around, with no less than 3 playgrounds inside for those moments when you want to just sit and let the kids go crazy. It has all the animals that kids love (lions, tigers, elephants, giraffes...) and plenty of toilets scattered all around the park (obviously a parent of with young children designed this zoo!!!) We spent most of the day in there before catching the bus back into the city and then the catching the dart home.

Neve outside the zoo looking very relieved that we didn't see any 'wild deer' in the park....

Everyones favourites - the sea lions

 Neve realising that orang-utans actually have very large hands.

One of Neve's 'ranga' friends

Penguin Neve

 Orang-utan Eloise

You could actually get really close to the animals (which always helps when you are small)


















All up it was a fantastic adventure day and we were VERY happy that the rain managed to stay away. It literally started raining when we were about 50 metres from home........must be the "luck of the Irish"...

Dublin - washed away

My gorgeous husband gave me the 'day off' yesterday. We all went into town to look for new sneakers for Neve, whose toes are almost poking out the end of her old pair - all that walking must be making her grow faster than usual. After lunch he took the kids to the playground and back home while I spent a few glorious (child-free) hours wandering the streets of Dublin.....the sun was shining and all was good with the world.

This morning, the plan was for me to take the kids out for the day while Shane caught up on some work.....




Eloise practising her 'pole dancing' on the dart...
















Of course it turns into 'hurricane Wednesday' with driving rain and howling winds!

We managed to get into town and remain relatively dry enough to get on board the double-decker tourist bus that I had been promising the girls we would go on since the moment they laid eyes on it. I will be honest and admit that I was pretty annoyed at my fellow passengers on the bus....sure it was wet and and crowded (since half of the seats upstairs were soaked from the rain) - but I would have thought that SOMEONE would give up a seat for a single woman (metaphorically) with 2 small kids.....but NO...NO ONE even looked like standing for us! TOURISTS....honestly people....just because you don't live in the city doesn't mean you aren't part of the community!!!!!!

OK - vent over.

So we stood on the bus until enough people had gotten off that we could get a seat - actually - one final vent here - we were standing inside the bus and a young couple got on at the next stop.....and then one stop later some people got off....so they actually PUSHED PAST US to get the seats!!!!!!

So - we eventually got seats. But after about 20 minutes on the bus the girls got bored, which is fair enough since they couldn't really understand the Irish-accented commentary and it was hard to see out the windows since they were fogged up. So off we got and switched over to the LUAS, which is the light rail/tram system that runs through Dublin. We caught the LUAS back into town (because by this stage we were way out of the city) and managed to find a shopping centre and a new pair of sneakers for Neve (which we didn't find yesterday)....

 Eloise contemplating the historical perspectives of Dublin (once she finally got a seat on the bus)

Waiting for the Luas (tram)....

Dry but dripping on the Luas - Eloise practising more pole dancing!























We got soaked on the walk back to the dart station...but made it home - soggy - but actually having had quite an adventure day!!!

Neve's new shoes (and ice cream  to fuel up for the run in the rain back to the station!)